Zambezi waterfront haunts govt
Tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta said the lesson learned is that the government must never embark on projects that it cannot run.
NAMPA
WINDHOEK
The government must stop building tourism facilities as it does not have the capacity to run them profitably, says tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta.
The government spent N$189 million on developing the Zambezi Waterfront Tourism Park (ZWTP), of which N$57 million seems to have vanished.
The government is now transferring the land to it and dissolving the ZWTP to allow Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) to take over the facility.
The land in question is owned by the Katima Mulilo town council, despite the central government having paid for the servicing.
According to Shifeta, dissolving ZWTP is the best option because the process of transferring one business into another's name is cumbersome.
“If we dissolve the company, its entire assets will be transferred to NWR.
“It will become an NWR asset,” Shifeta said upon inquiry.
Costly lesson
Shifeta said the lesson learned is that the government must never embark on projects that it cannot run.
“Building such facilities requires money, but after construction, you remain with an unused facility and no plans to benefit from it,” Shifeta said. Instead, the government's role should be to capacitate and ensure that NWR is run prudently and profitably, Shifeta said.
He said the government does not have the customer base to feed a tourism facility, which is a prerequisite for survival in the tourism industry.
As if that was not enough, the government had plans to establish similar tourism facilities in other parts of the country.
“For these plans, I said why don't we allow joint ventures? That's why we started with joint ventures,” Shifeta added.
Standing empty
Nampa recently visited the park in Katima Mulilo, on the banks of the Zambezi River.
Since 2016, no business has taken place at the park.
The operations ground to a halt following allegations of dishonesty and maladministration.
The park has an administration block, 15 bungalows, camping site, conference facilities and walkways on land measuring 22 hectares, The Namibian newspaper reported in 2016.
The 17 employees currently on the park's payroll are responsible for maintaining its infrastructure.
At the moment, the facility is being used as a coronavirus quarantine centre.
WINDHOEK
The government must stop building tourism facilities as it does not have the capacity to run them profitably, says tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta.
The government spent N$189 million on developing the Zambezi Waterfront Tourism Park (ZWTP), of which N$57 million seems to have vanished.
The government is now transferring the land to it and dissolving the ZWTP to allow Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) to take over the facility.
The land in question is owned by the Katima Mulilo town council, despite the central government having paid for the servicing.
According to Shifeta, dissolving ZWTP is the best option because the process of transferring one business into another's name is cumbersome.
“If we dissolve the company, its entire assets will be transferred to NWR.
“It will become an NWR asset,” Shifeta said upon inquiry.
Costly lesson
Shifeta said the lesson learned is that the government must never embark on projects that it cannot run.
“Building such facilities requires money, but after construction, you remain with an unused facility and no plans to benefit from it,” Shifeta said. Instead, the government's role should be to capacitate and ensure that NWR is run prudently and profitably, Shifeta said.
He said the government does not have the customer base to feed a tourism facility, which is a prerequisite for survival in the tourism industry.
As if that was not enough, the government had plans to establish similar tourism facilities in other parts of the country.
“For these plans, I said why don't we allow joint ventures? That's why we started with joint ventures,” Shifeta added.
Standing empty
Nampa recently visited the park in Katima Mulilo, on the banks of the Zambezi River.
Since 2016, no business has taken place at the park.
The operations ground to a halt following allegations of dishonesty and maladministration.
The park has an administration block, 15 bungalows, camping site, conference facilities and walkways on land measuring 22 hectares, The Namibian newspaper reported in 2016.
The 17 employees currently on the park's payroll are responsible for maintaining its infrastructure.
At the moment, the facility is being used as a coronavirus quarantine centre.
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